Thief in student halls apprehended by Ocean-goer policewoman

A burglar was found putting a
laptop into a bag by a student dressed as a policewoman for a night out.

The suspect
was seen on February 20 in a flat within Gill Street South in the evening and
is said to have taken a laptop, two professional cameras, a vintage dress watch
and some sunglasses all belonging to the same resident.

It is
thought that the burglar was able to enter the flat as the door had been
propped open to allow people in and out of a cocktail society meeting.

Felicity
Henebury had gone to the flat to find the society had left for a bar crawl and
found the suspect in the kitchen.

The
psychology student said: “He definitely didn’t look like a student, he looked
late 20’s maybe early 30’s, I could see he was putting stuff in his backpack
and I think I saw him put a laptop in there.”

Felicity
said: “The theme of the ocean night was ‘when I grow up’ and I happened to be a
police officer, so it’s hilariously ironic that this policewoman was just
chatting to a thief.

“It’s even
worse that, as we were leaving, my friend said ‘that guy looked like he was
robbing the place’ and we all laughed.”

The
19-year-old from Coventry added: “I’d had quite a few drinks by then and just
thought he was a maintenance guy, I didn’t expect someone to be stealing from
the flat.

“I asked
him where everyone was and he said: ‘They’ve already gone, you gotta catch up.’

“But I replied:
‘Hang on what are you doing here, you don’t live in this flat’ and he just said
“I’m about to leave.’

“I was
like ‘alright’ because my priority was not being left behind, as me and my
friends didn’t want to be left on our own.”

Tom White thought it was all a joke at first

The victim of the burglary was Tom White who had been in a friend’s room as the crime took place.

The Real
Estate student from Edinburgh claimed he didn’t think to lock his room at the
time and it wasn’t until he went to get ready to go out that he found items
missing:

“I went to
get my jacket and saw bags all over the floor, I thought someone may have just
come to use the loo but then I noticed my two cameras were missing along with
my laptop in my drawer and thought ‘oh sh*t something’s happened.’”

The
cameras taken were a professional DSLR worth around £550 and a vintage film
camera that was given to Tom as a gift.

The
19-year-old continued: “I thought it was just a joke at first, you wouldn’t
think anyone would really do it.

“I’ve been
trying to find the silver lining but the fact that the sentimental stuff like
the vintage camera and dress watch are gone – that’s a real shame.”

Tom was
also left confused by the items that were stolen, as he said: “I have skis, a
piano on my desk, an iPad Air 2 and Bose headphones that were on top of my
laptop meaning he would have had to lift the headphones off the get to the
laptop.

“It’s the
weirdest collection of things to take and leave.”

A Nottingham Trent University spokesperson said: “We are aware of an
incident at Gill Street South.

“A student received advice from UPP following a report of theft and NTU
Security has supported the police with their investigations.”